Doak Walker
Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football halfback and kicker who played with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons from 1950 to 1955.[1][2] He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948.
No. 37
January 1, 1927
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
September 27, 1998 (aged 71)
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, U.S.
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
173 lb (78 kg)
SMU (1945; 1947–1949)
1949 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
1,520
1,520
4.9
12
152
2,539
21
534
Walker was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. The Doak Walker Award, awarded annually since 1990 to the top running back in college football, is named after him.
Early life[edit]
Walker was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1927.[3] His father, Ewell Doak Walker Sr., was a Tennessee native and a school teacher who later became assistant superintendent and personnel director of the Dallas school system. His mother Emma was a Texas native, and he had a younger sister, Elsa.[4][5][6]
Walker attended Highland Park High School in University Park, where he was a five-sport athlete in football, basketball, baseball, swimming, and track and field.[4] In 1944, Doak Walker led his high school football team to the state championship game. He and future college and NFL star Bobby Layne were teammates at Highland Park; Layne played college football at the University of Texas in Austin.
Following his graduation from high school in 1945, Walker joined the Merchant Marine.[4] The war ended in August 1945, and Walker was discharged from the Merchant Marine on November 1, 1945.[7]
Football career[edit]
SMU (1945; 1947–1949)[edit]
Two days after being discharged from the Merchant Marine, Walker appeared in his first college football game for Southern Methodist University.[7] Walker played in five games for the SMU Mustangs in November 1945 and was sufficiently impressive as a halfback and placekicker as to win All-Southwest Conference honors and a spot in the annual East–West Shrine Game in San Francisco.[4] In the Shrine game, he threw a tying touchdown pass for the West team.[4]
Walker did not play college football in 1946, as he was inducted into the U.S. Army in March 1946.[4] His stint was brief, playing football for the Brooke Medical Center service team in San Antonio before being discharged in January 1947.[4]
Following his discharge, Walker re-enrolled at SMU and rejoined the Mustangs football team.[4] As a sophomore, he led Southern Methodist to a 1947 SWC championship and was named to a myriad of All-American teams.[4] He gained similar All-American honors in 1948, and 1949. Walker won the Maxwell Award as a sophomore in 1947 and the Heisman Trophy in 1948 as a junior.
During his award-winning 1948 season, Walker gained 532 yards on the ground, carrying the ball 108 times for a 4.9 yards per carry average.[4] He also threw six touchdown passes from the halfback position, going 26-for-46 and gaining 304 yards in the air.[4] As a receiver, Walker hauled in 15 passes for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns.[4] On the defensive side of the ball, he intercepted three passes.[4] He also punted for a 42.1 yard average for the Mustangs, returned punts and kickoffs, and did duty as the SMU placekicker.[4] Walker finished the year with 11 touchdowns scored, which combined with his kicking put 88 points on the scoreboard for the year.[4]
Walker's impact on SMU and football in the Dallas area led to the Cotton Bowl's expansion and nickname: "The House That Doak Built."[1] He was also a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the men's society Cycen Fjodr,[8] and lettered on the SMU basketball and baseball teams.
Detroit Lions (1950–1955)[edit]
Following his junior year at SMU, Walker was selected by the Boston Yanks with the third pick of in the 1949 NFL draft, held in December 1948. The Detroit Lions acquired Walker's rights from Boston in exchange for John Rauch, whom the Lions had selected with the second pick of the 1949 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns held the AAFC to arbitrate their conflicting claims or flip a coin. Instead, the Browns agreed in January 1950 to forego their claim to Walker in exchange for the Lions' second pick in the 1950 NFL draft.[9]
In Detroit, Walker was reunited with former high school teammate Bobby Layne who the Lions acquired by trade in April 1950.[10] The two Texans led the Lions to one of the top scoring offenses during the 1950 NFL season, as Layne led the NFL with 2,323 passing yards and Walker led the league with 128 points on five rushing touchdowns, six receiving touchdowns, 38 extra points, and eight field goals.[3] Walker appeared in all 12 games for the 1950 Lions at the left halfback position; he rushed for 386 yards on 83 carries (4.7 yards per carry), caught 34 passes for 534 yards, and totaled 1,262 all-purpose yards. He was selected by both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) as a first-team player on the 1950 All-Pro Team.[3] His 128 points in 1950 was the second highest single-season total in NFL history to that time.[11]
Family and later years[edit]
In March 1950, Walker married his college sweetheart, Norma Jane Peterson, at the Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas. His groomsmen included Bobby Layne and Kyle Rote.[26] They had four children: Laurie ('52), Kris ('56), Russ ('60), and Scott ('63), but divorced in 1965.[1] Walker married Olympic ski racer Skeeter Werner in 1969, and they lived in her hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.[27][28][29][30]
Walker left pro football in 1955 to concentrate on his private business interests in sporting goods and as a sales executive with an electrical contracting company.[31] Walker took a position as a coach with the Akron Vulcans of the Continental Football League. When the Vulcans owner was exposed as a con-artist and stopped paying his bills, Walker and his assistant coaches (Tobin Rote and Lou Rymkus being among them) kept the team alive as long as they could with funds out of their own pockets; Walker eventually quit before the team folded.[32] He later founded Walker Chemicals in Denver, a company he sold upon retirement.[1]
In January 1998, at age 71, Walker was paralyzed from the neck down in a skiing accident at Steamboat Springs. After hitting a change in terrain, he flew 20 to 30 feet in the air and tumbled 75 feet. He died that September from injuries sustained in the accident.[33][34][35]